Germany’s recent World Cup Championship is 14 years in the making.

Now that we all know the final scores of the 2014 World Cup, it’s easy to reflect on the wins, losses, and coaches’ decisions. The host country, Brazil, suffered a devastating defeat by Germany, and another loss during the third-place round against the Netherlands, leaving their head coach unemployed shortly after the tournament ended. Although Brazil didn’t play as well as was expected, the 7-1 score against Germany might have more to do with Germany’s talent than Brazil’s performance.

When we look back at the great talent of this year’s tournament – Lionel Messi of Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, Neymar of Brazil, and Robin van Persie of the Netherlands – we can reflect that we have seen quite a bit of luck (plus a lot of hard work). Luck that these players found a passion for soccer in their youth and have been playing since then. Luck that they were born in their respective countries where soccer is adored. And luck that their programs were funded. When it comes to Germany’s national team, they’ve gone beyond luck and taken matters into their own hands.

It’s hard to believe that until this year, Germany hadn’t won a FIFA World Cup since they were a divided nation. In 2000, they didn’t even make it past the group stage of the European Championship. An entire country was devastated and embarrassed. As a result, the Deutscher Fussball Bund (DFB), which is the organization responsible for Germany’s national team, decided to make some serious changes to the way talent was found and curated. Instead of letting the club teams find talented teens, and then poaching them for the national team, DFB decided to take matters into their own hands. In 2003, they launched a national program to find all of the nation’s young talent, starting with six-year-olds.

It might seem strange to start scouting at such a young age, but as this proven powerhouse has shown, it’s the best way to ensure no talent is left unclaimed. All six-year-olds around the country are taught the same basic skills by one of 1,000 nationally licensed coaches. The coaches both scout and train for a couple years, then professional scouts show up to watch them play around age eight, and come back every season to scope the talent. With these processes in place, Germany’s club teams can bring on more capable homegrown German players rather than reaching into the pool of international talent.

Not only did the DFB change the scouting and training processes, but they also changed the desirable traits in players. Before the new program, Germany’s players were picked for height and build; nowadays they’re selected for speed and technical skill. The German mentality for clean, clear plays by big athletes has been replaced with fluid formations and set plays by fast and nimble athletes, such as Thomas Müller.

They also made big changes to coaching philosophies and athletic facilities. It was once common for professional club players to seamlessly slip into part-time coaching positions without any experience as a coach. Now the coaches work full-time, and come with University educations, training, and experience. Even the facilities have seen upgrades around the country, providing better tools and injury prevention than ever before.

When you look at the effort put into curating the 2014 German National team, it seems almost embarrassing that Argentina even challenged them at all. But then you remember this fact: we haven’t even seen the talent that started in the program at age six. Those players are only beginning to turn 18. It is a dynasty in the making.

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